Lost in Arcadia

Homecoming

Well-fed and having fun serenading himself, the rest of the drive flew by for Kade. Before he knew it, they were already cruising through the small and idyllic village where his parents’ cottage was.

The car pulled up at the side of the road, separated by the wooden fence that surrounded the modest lot.

“Home sweet home,” said Kade with a pleasant and contented sigh as he unbuckled his seatbelt. He opened the passenger side door and turned to Arden. “Thanks for the ride, man. It must have been exhausting for you.” Because he knew exactly what he had put the poor guy through, he chuckled upon seeing Arden’s carefully blank expression before continuing, “Wanna go inside for a sec? You should rest before heading back.”

At the unexpected invitation, Arden seemed to hesitate before saying in the end, “I still have work, Mr. Harker. And the President will be wanting her car back.”

“Aw, come on,” Kade replied wheedlingly. “Working hours will be over by the time you return. Plus, I think my sister would much rather have you back in one piece. You can let her wait a bit for her car, it’s no biggie.”

For some reason, that made Arden let out a soft snort of amusement. “You two really are siblings…” 

Surprised that Arden actually showed a reaction other than the usual “meh,” Kade smiled as well before raising a brow at him. “What? Like our faces don’t already give that away?”

Arden looked quietly back at him in response, then Kade gestured with his head sideways to repeat his offer.

“Come on,” he said. “I’ll show you around. Aren’t you curious about where your boss grew up?”

“…”

As it happened, Arden was. But Kade didn’t know exactly how much. He only felt satisfied when Arden slowly began to move to unbuckle his own seatbelt and open his door as well.

“I’ll be intruding, then.”

“Heh! Tell Addie this is payback.”

It became apparent what Kade meant when he opened the cottage door and the visitor was immediately greeted by the sight of framed pictures. Lots and lots of them. 

It wasn’t an overkill in that every wall was peppered with them, but in the cozy-looking living room alone, everywhere you turned, your eyes would be met with one large picture after another.

Most of them were of a family of four. Some of the biggest “centerpieces,” however, were of Kade and Addie when they were children.

“Look at this,” Kade prompted, drawing closer to a picture of a teenage girl dressed all in black. Even her short layered hair was dyed in that same color, and she was wearing thick and pale makeup topped off with heavy and dark eyeliner and lipstick. “This was Addie during her blunder years. Isn’t she adorable? You should take pictures—in case you need blackmail material in the future.”

Chuckling in absolute enjoyment, Kade next headed to the couches and pulled out a photo album from under the coffee table. 

“Here, entertain yourself with this. I’ll get you something to drink.”

After Kade went to the kitchen at the back to prepare freshly squeezed juice, Arden was left to his own devices. 

He spent some more time roaming around the room. All the pictures were nice and charming in their own way—even the ones of a young Kade, who always looked clean-cut and angelic up to when he reached his teens.

But Arden paid particular attention to a picture of that same girl from earlier. This one seemed to have been taken when she was twelve or thirteen, still in elementary.

She looked exactly as he remembered her.

When Kade returned bearing a pitcher of iced juice with a couple of cups, he found Arden already seated on the large couch under the window, quietly browsing through the photo album filled with Kade and Addie’s baby pictures.

“You and your sister look like twins,” Arden commented. Though still reserved, he looked like he was now also enjoying himself.

Just as Kade was feeling good about this—so much so that he took his seat beside Arden on the same couch—the guy inched away so that there would be a healthy space between them.

Kade held back another huff and replied, “Well, we both take after our mom. Her genes are seriously overpowered, much to Dad’s disappointment.”

He poured them both a drink as he spoke and he handed Arden his cup. 

“Thanks…” The guy received it by holding the bottom. “Where are they right now?”

Kade narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t failed to note how careful Arden had been for their hands not to touch.

‘Germophobe?’ he wondered. ‘Or something else…?’

“Mr. Harker?”

“Oh.” Kade shook himself from his distraction. It had nothing to do with him. And if it did, it’s probably because Arden knew what Kade was like and didn’t want to give him any ideas. He shrugged it all off. “Yeah, I’m not sure,” he said, answering Arden’s question. “Off at another charity fundraiser, most likely.”

“I see…”

Taking a sip from his cup, Arden continued to flip through the album.

“Speaking of my parents…” Kade began in a brighter tone. “Addie and I used to joke that if we had another sibling like Dad wanted, the poor sod would have been named something like ‘Utopia’ or ‘Shangri-la.’ We debated what we would have nicknamed him or her, but everything we came up with still sounded so terrible. Then our parents got fed up and told us they would have named their third child ‘Haven’! That doesn’t sound so bad, right? It could also work for a boy. Meanwhile, look at me—just look at what they named me. I’ve lost count of how many times I got mistaken for a girl when people are going only by my name. Like, seriously…” 

When Kade paused to let out a huff of indignation, Arden took the chance to say, “I think you both have lovely names.”

“Yeah…?” Kade replied, toning down a little. “Well, lovely is lovely. Is it appropriate? I mean, take 'Paradis.' Which person would look at Addie and think, ‘oh, yeah, paradise ‘cause she’s so nice, I totally get it’?”

In response, Arden cleared his throat awkwardly and took another sip.

Kade caught his reaction and looked at him teasingly. “Your name is nice, though,” he continued. “‘Arden,’ rhymes with ‘garden.’ You’ll fit right in with our family.”

Unseen beneath his hair, the tops of Arden’s ears reddened amid the sound of Kade’s chuckles.

And for a time after that, Kade went on and on, sharing stories that went with some of the pictures or going off on a tangent about something else. If he noticed how much fun he was having, he chalked it up to how starved he had been of companionship.

Meanwhile, Arden just sat there and quietly listened. He had lost track of time.

They were only interrupted and got reminded of other matters when Kade’s phone rang.

Addie was calling him.

Kade let out a mischievous laugh. “Hehe. Take a listen to this, dude. This should be good.”

With that, he answered the call and immediately put it on loudspeaker.

A second later, Addie’s shout rang out: “Arcadia Harker, don’t you f*cking dare! Whatever you’re doing with him, stop it—now! Arden is too good for the likes of you! Let go of him this instant!”

“Um…” Arden tried to butt in, visibly embarrassed at the misunderstanding.

But Kade, who was laughing soundlessly, held up a hand to silence him.

Then he tried to compose himself and replied, “He’s having such a great time, though, sis. It wouldn’t be nice if we stop before we finish.”

Kade could practically see his sister’s eyes widening in outrage. “You… you…” she sputtered, unable to find a bad enough curse. Then she did. “ARCADIA!”

Unlike at the airport, her weaponizing of his full name only sent Kade laughing aloud.

“What? I was talking about us rifling through our photo album. What dirty thing were you thinking about, Paradis?”

Addie drew a sharp hiss. She wasn't a fan of her name either. “F*ck you—and like I’d believe a word you say, you sh*thead! Hand Arden the phone now! If he says you laid your filthy hands on him, I swear—”

“You can talk to him now, actually,” Kade quipped pleasantly. “He can hear you as we speak—loooud and clear.”

For several seconds, there was only silence from the other end. While Arden was busy drowning in all the awkwardness, Kade looked like he was having the time of his life.

“…F*ck!” the two heard Addie say, voice now low and muffled. Then they heard her clear her throat in an effort to compose herself. “Are you okay, Arden?” she asked in that special tone she used with him, acting as if the last minute or so never happened. Despite already knowing how much she favored this particular employee, her complete one-eighty from when she was talking to Kade still made both his eyebrows rise. “I was expecting to hear from you half an hour ago, so I was worried when I didn’t get an update of your movements.”

Arden swallowed and replied, “I’m so sorry, President. I got a little sidetracked. I’m heading back now.”

“No, no, it’s all right, take your time. But you’re okay, right…?”

Though still feeling so weirded out that it was bordering on disgust, Kade had recovered enough that he let out another chuckle. He could practically sense Addie holding herself back from hissing at him again like an angry cat.

Arden spared him a dry look before clearing his throat. “I’m fine, President,” he replied, hoping this would all end already. “It was as Mr. Harker said. We were looking through your photo album and…” He cleared his throat again and abruptly stood up. “Anyway, I’m leaving now.”

“All right, great! Be careful on your way! See you when you get back!”

“Yes, President.” Arden looked at Kade again and addressed him next. “Thank you for having me, Mr. Harker. No need to see me out.”

“It was nice ‘having’ you, Arden~!” Kade said suggestively, echoing Addie’s tone as he beamed at Arden. He heard the woman choke on another curse. “Thanks for the ride~!”

The guy only nodded woodenly at him before hightailing it out of the cottage.

From the other side, Addie caught the sound of the door closing.

But in a dangerously quiet voice, she still asked, “Is he gone?”

“Yee-up!”

Hearing that confirmation, Addie filled her lungs with air so she could more effectively yell, “ASSH*LE!”

Then she hung up.

After chuckling one last time, Kade sank into a lying position on the couch with his feet propped up. He let out a contented sigh as he gazed at the ceiling.

“So good to be back…”